Cloud radio access network system and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

A cloud radio access network system includes remote signal sources, a baseband processing unit pool, an access management server, a software defined network controller and a network signal forwarder. Each remote signal source is configured to transmit an access signal. The baseband processing unit pool provides a baseband processing signal. The access management server provides an access state signal. Different maximum transmission rates are transmitted via the access state signal. When the baseband processing unit pool has authenticated one remote signal source, the baseband processing unit pool transmits an authentication notification signal to the access management server. Then, the access management server informs the software defined network controller according to the authentication notification signal to increase an upper limit of a signal transmission rate between the baseband processing unit pool and the authenticated remote signal source to a higher one of the maximum transmission rates.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a cloud radio access network systemand a control method of the system, and particularly to a cloud radioaccess network system using a software defined network controller and acontrol method of the system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A cloud radio access network (Cloud RAN) is a network which connectsmany distributed remote radio heads (RRH) to base stations of highdensity with only baseband function. The network load balancing isachieved by resource sharing. The cloud radio access network is animportant development direction of next-generation networking. Recently,great research efforts are put on the system architecture and thecontrol method for the cloud radio access network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a cloud radio accessnetwork (Cloud RAN) system. It includes a plurality of remote signalsources, a baseband processing unit pool, an access management server, asoftware defined network (SDN) controller and at least one networksignal forwarder. Each remote signal source is configured to transmit anaccess signal. The baseband processing unit pool provides a basebandprocessing signal. The access management server provides an access statesignal according to a request signal. The SDN controller is electricallyconnected to the access management server and the at least one networksignal forwarder and configured to control the at least one networksignal forwarder. The at least one network signal forwarder has at leasttwo network connectors, each of which is configured to be connected toone of the baseband processing unit pool and the remote signal source.The SDN controller obtains connection relation between the at least twonetwork connectors and the remote signal sources or the basebandprocessing unit pool, and generates and transmits network resourceinformation to the at least one network signal forwarder according tothe obtained connection relation. The at least one network signalforwarder establishes communication between one remote signal source andthe baseband processing unit pool according to the network resourceinformation.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a Cloud RAN system. Itincludes a plurality of remote signal sources, a baseband processingunit pool, an access management server, a SDN controller and at leastone network signal forwarder. Each remote signal source is configured totransmit an access signal. The baseband processing unit pool provides abaseband processing signal. The access management server provides anaccess state signal. The SDN controller is electrically connected to theaccess management server and the at least one network signal forwarder.The remote signal sources and the baseband processing unit pool areelectrically connected to the at least one network signal forwarder sothat the access signal and the baseband processing signal aretransmitted through the at least one network signal forwarder. Signaltransmission between the SDN controller and the access management serverare independent of the at least one network signal forwarder.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a Cloud RAN system. Itincludes a plurality of remote signal sources, a baseband processingunit pool, an access management server, a SDN controller and at leastone network signal forwarder. Each remote signal source is configured totransmit an access signal. The baseband processing unit pool provides abaseband processing signal. The access management server provides anaccess state signal. The SDN controller is electrically connected to theaccess management server and the at least one network signal forwarder.The remote signal sources and the baseband processing unit pool areelectrically connected to the at least one network signal forwarder. Aplurality of different maximum transmission rates are transmitted viathe access state signal. The maximum transmission rates includes atleast a first maximum transmission rate and a second maximumtransmission rate, and the first maximum transmission rate is lower thanthe second maximum transmission rate. When the baseband processing unitpool has authenticated one remote signal source, the baseband processingunit pool transmits an authentication notification signal to the accessmanagement server. Then, the access management server informs the SDNcontroller according to the authentication notification signal to makeSDN controller to increase an upper limit of a signal transmission ratebetween the baseband processing unit pool and the authenticated remotesignal source from the first maximum transmission rate to the secondmaximum transmission rate.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a control of the CloudRAN system. The control method includes the following steps. The atleast one network signal forwarder receives an access signal from oneremote signal source. The at least one network signal forwarderdetermines whether the access signal matches data in network resourceinformation. When the access signal does not match the data in thenetwork resource information, the at least one network signal forwardertransmits the access signal to the SDN controller; the SDN controllerconverts the access signal into a request signal and transmits therequest signal to the access management server; the access managementserver transmits an access state signal to the SDN controller accordingto the request signal; and the SDN controller determines whether toupdate the network resource information stored in the at least onenetwork signal forwarder according to the access state signal. When theaccess signal matches data in the network resource information, the atleast one network signal forwarder establishes communication between thebaseband processing unit pool and the remote signal source whichtransmits the access signal according to the network resourceinformation.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a control of the CloudRAN system. The control method includes the following steps. The atleast one network signal forwarder determines whether an access signalfrom one of the remote signal sources conforms to a predetermined rule.When the access signal conforms to the predetermined rule, the at leastone network signal forwarder generates a first notification signalcorresponding to the access signal and transmits the first notificationsignal to the SDN controller, and the SDN controller generates a requestsignal according to the first notification signal and transmits therequest signal to the access management server. Signal transmissionbetween the SDN controller and the access management server isindependent of the at least one network signal forwarder.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a control method ofthe Cloud RAN system. The control method includes the following steps.The access management server transmits an access state signal to the SDNcontroller wherein the access state signal contains a plurality ofdifferent maximum transmission rates includes at least a first maximumtransmission rate and a second maximum transmission rate, and the firstmaximum transmission rate is lower than the second maximum transmissionrate. The baseband processing unit pool performs authentication of oneremote signal source at the first maximum transmission rate. After thebaseband processing unit pool authenticates the remote signal source,the baseband processing unit pool transmits an authenticationnotification signal to the access management server. The accessmanagement server informs the SDN controller according to theauthentication notification signal to make the SDN controller toincrease an upper limit of a signal transmission rate between thebaseband processing unit pool and the authenticated remote signal sourcefrom the first maximum transmission rate to the second maximumtransmission rate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages of the present disclosure will become more readilyapparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing thefollowing detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture of a CloudRAN system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the Cloud RANsystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method performed by theCloud RAN system according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method performed by theCloud RAN system according to a further embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure will now be described more specifically withreference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that thefollowing descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention arepresented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise formdisclosed.

In the description, “electrically connect”, “communicate” and“communication” mean that an electrical signal path is provided forsignal transmission. For example, if a first device is electricallyconnected to/communicated with a second device, it means that the firstdevice can transmit/receive electrical signals to/from the second devicevia any known way such as wire, cable or wireless transmission in adirect or an indirect manner.

Please refer to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram illustrating a cloud radioaccess network (Cloud RAN) system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In the embodiment, the Cloud RAN system 10 includesa remote signal source set 100, two network signal forwarders 110, 112,a baseband processing unit pool 120, an access management server 130 anda software defined network controller (SDN controller) 140. The remotesignal source set 100 includes at least one remote signal source, e.g.remote signal sources 100(1), 100(2), . . . , 100(N) in FIG. 1. Thebaseband processing unit pool 120 includes at least one basebandprocessing unit, e.g. baseband processing units 1202, 1204, . . . , 1206in FIG. 1. Although the quantities of the remote signal sources, thenetwork signal forwarders and the baseband processing units arespecified in this embodiment and shown in FIG. 1, the quantities ofthese devices are not limited as those described in the embodiment andcan be adjusted or arranged as desired without departing from thepresent invention.

In the embodiment, each remote signal source 100(1), 100(2), . . . ,100(N) may be an independent remote radio head (RRH), and its operationis not affected by any other RRH. The remote signal sources 100(1),100(2), . . . , 100(N) can transmit and/or receive corresponding accesssignals AS1, AS2, . . . , ASN during activation and operation. In otherwords, each remote signal source can convert information into an accesssignal in a specific access signal format which is then sent to otherdevices of the Cloud RAN system 10 for further processing, or receive anaccess signal complying with a specific access signal format from otherdevices of the Cloud RAN system 10 to acquire information needed forindividual operation. Each network signal forwarder 110, 112 forwardsnetwork signals based on specific rules. Each baseband processing unit1202, 1204, 1206 is provided for performing specific function. Any knowndevice which can work as required in the description is suitable forserving as the above described devices of the Cloud RAN system 10. Forexample, a smart phone or a notebook computer may serve as the remotesignal source; a network switch or a network router may serve as thenetwork signal forwarder; or a notebook computer, a server or a personalcomputer may serve as the baseband processing unit.

As shown in FIG. 1, the remote signal sources 100(1), 100(2), . . . ,100(N) are in communication with the network signal forwarders 110, 112via the access signals AS1, AS2, . . . , ASN. Specially, the remotesignal source 100(1) is electrically connected to the network connector1101 of the network signal forwarder 110, and communicated with thenetwork connector 1101 via the access signal AS1; the remote signalsource 100(2) is electrically connected to the network connector 1121 ofthe network signal forwarder 112, and communicated with the networkconnector 1121 via the access signal AS2; and the remote signal source100(N) is electrically connected to the network connector 1102 of thenetwork signal forwarder 110, and communicated with the networkconnector 1102 via the access signal ASN.

The network signal forwarder 110 has network connectors 1101˜4105 andthe network signal forwarder 112 has network connectors 1121˜1125 fordata transmission. As shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the networkconnectors electrically connected to the remote signal sources 100(1),100(2), . . . , 100(N), the network signal forwarders 110, 112 haveother network connectors to be electrically connected to other devices.For example, the network connector 1103 of the network signal forwarder110 is electrically connected to the network connector 1123 of thenetwork signal forwarder 112; the network connector 1104 of the networksignal forwarder 110 is electrically connected to the SDN controller140; the network connector 1105 of the network signal forwarder 110 iselectrically connected to the baseband processing units 1202, 1204, 1206in the baseband processing unit pool 120; the network connector 1124 ofthe network signal forwarder 112 is electrically connected to thebaseband processing unit 1202 in the baseband processing unit pool 120;and the network connector 1125 of the network signal forwarder 112 iselectrically connected to the baseband processing unit 1204 in thebaseband processing unit pool 120. It is to be noted that each networkconnector may be electrically connected to the remote signal source, thebaseband processing unit pool or the SDN controller selectively to meetspecific requirement, and real connections among devices are not limitedto this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the access management server 130 is electricallyconnected to the baseband processing unit pool 120 and the SDNcontroller 140. Specially, the access management server 130 iselectrically connected to the baseband processing units 1202, 1204,1206, directly or indirectly. For example, the access management server130 is electrically connected to each of the baseband processing units1202, 1204, 1206; or the access management server 130 is electricallyconnected to at least one baseband processing unit in the basebandprocessing unit pool 120, and the at least one baseband processing unitis further electrically connected to other baseband processing units.

The operation of the Cloud RAN system 10 is described as follows withreference to both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a flowchart illustrating a controlmethod of the Cloud RAN system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Once the Cloud RAN system 10 starts operation, the SDN controller 140,the remote signal sources 100(1)˜100(N) and the baseband processing unitpool 120 start to be integrated under the architecture of the presentCloud RAN system 10. Taking the remote signal source 100(2) as anexample, in the Cloud RAN system 10, when the remote signal source100(2) is activated and connection is required, the remote signal source100(2) transmits the access signal AS2 to the network signal forwarder112 through the network connector 1121 (step S200). After receiving theaccess signal AS2, the network signal forwarder 112 compares specificinformation contained in the access signal AS2 with network resourceinformation stored in the network signal forwarder 112 (step S202), andthen determines whether to forward the received access signal AS2according to a comparing result of the comparing step (step S204).

The specific information contained in the access signal AS2 may includeat least one of an Internet Protocol address (IP address) of the remotesignal source 100(2), a media access control address (MAC address) ofthe remote signal source 100(2) and a service type of the remote signalsource 100(2). The network resource information is broadly defined asany information related to the corresponding relation or connectionrelation between devices in the Cloud RAN system 10. For example, thenetwork resource information to be compared with the specificinformation contained in the access signal AS2 may include at least oneof IP addresses of permitted remote signal sources, MAC addresses ofpermitted remote signal sources, service types of permitted remotesignal sources, input network connectors of network signal forwardersfor access signals transmitted from permitted remote signal sources, andoutput network connectors of network signal forwarders for accesssignals transmitted from permitted remote signal sources.

If the specific information contained in the access signal AS2 matchesdata in the network resource information, it is determined to forwardthe access signal AS2 (steps S202 and S204). For example, the comparingresult indicates that the IP address, the MAC address and the servicetype of the remote signal source 100(2) are recorded in the networkresource information, and the access signal AS2 from the remote signalsource 100(2) selects the network connector 1121 of the network signalforwarder 112 as the input network connector. Then, it is determinedthat direct forwarding of the access signal AS2, which specifies theservice type recorded in the network resource information, enters thenetwork signal forwarder 112 through the network connector 1121, andcarries the recorded IP address and MAC address of the remote signalsource 100(2), is permitted. Entire or part of the permitted accesssignal AS2 (e.g. only the information regarding service request) isforwarded to the baseband processing unit pool 120 through anothernetwork connector to be processed by a corresponding baseband processingunit in the baseband processing unit pool 120 (step S206).

After the service request contained in the access signal AS2 istransmitted to the corresponding baseband processing unit, the basebandprocessing unit will process the service request and transmit acorresponding baseband processing signal BSP to the network signalforwarder (step S270). Upon receiving the baseband processing signalBSP, the network signal forwarder will determine whether the basebandprocessing signal BSP is recorded in the network resource informationstored therein (step S272). For example, the baseband processing signalBSP recorded in the network resource information may include at leastone of an IP address of a specific baseband processing unit, a MACaddress of the specific baseband processing unit, a serial number of anetwork signal forwarder corresponding to the specific basebandprocessing unit and a serial number of a network connector correspondingto the specific baseband processing unit. In an embodiment, to determinewhether the received baseband processing signal BSP is recorded in thenetwork resource information in step S272, corresponding informationcontained in the baseband processing signal BSP (e.g. the IP address andthe MAC address of the baseband processing unit transmitting thebaseband processing signal BSP, the serial numbers of the network signalforwarder and the network connector receiving the baseband processingsignal BSP) is compared with the network resource information. If the IPaddress of the baseband processing unit transmitting the basebandprocessing signal BSP and the serial number of the network connectorreceiving the baseband processing signal BSP match the same entry ofdata in the network resource information, the network signal forwarderdetermines that the received baseband processing signal BSP is recordedin the network resource information. Otherwise, the network signalforwarder determines that the received baseband processing signal BSP isnot recorded in the network resource information. In other embodiments,to determine whether the received baseband processing signal BSP isrecorded in the network resource information, the comparison may be madebased on other corresponding information, and is not limited to thisembodiment.

After step S272, if it is determined that the network resourceinformation has recorded the received baseband processing signal BSP,step S274 directs the method to step S276. In step S276, the receivedbaseband processing signal BSP is forwarded to the corresponding remotesignal source (e.g. the original remote signal source transmitting theaccess signal at the start, i.e. the remote signal source 100(2) in thisembodiment). Otherwise, if it is determined that the received basebandprocessing signal BSP is not recorded in the network resourceinformation (conforming to a predetermined rule to transmit data to theSDN controller 140), step S274 directs the method to step S278. In stepS278, the network signal forwarder generates a second notificationsignal NS2 according to the baseband processing signal BSP, andtransmits the second notification signal NS2 to the SDN controller 140.Subsequently, the SDN controller 140 updates the network resourceinformation according to the received second notification signal NS2(step S280), and thus generates new network resource information (stepS252). The network resource information is transmitted to the networksignal forwarder via a control signal IF (step S254). It is to be notedthat while activating the SDN controller 140 (step S250), the SDNcontroller 140 generally creates initial network resource informationaccording to data previously stored therein (step S252). The initialnetwork resource information may include predefined information or emptyinformation without contents. Furthermore, the step of generating thenew network resource information in step S252 and the step oftransmitting the network resource information to the network signalforwarder in step S254 may be performed for only updated portions of thenetwork resource information rather than generating and transmittingcomplete network resource information. The updated network resourceinformation is stored in the network signal forwarder for use in latersteps (e.g. step S202 or step S272).

In the above description, the steps subsequent to step S206 areperformed when it is determined in step S202 that the forwarding of theaccess signal is permitted. In another embodiment, it is determined instep S202 that the forwarding of the access signal is not permitted, andthe operation is described as follows.

Please refer to both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. If it is determined in step S202that the forwarding of the access signal is not permitted, step S204directs the method to step S208. In step S208, the network signalforwarder generates a first notification signal NS1 according to thereceived access signal, and transmits the first notification signal tothe SDN controller 140. The SDN controller 140 generates a correspondingrequest signal REQ according to the first notification signal, and thentransmits the request signal REQ to the access management server 130(step S210). After receiving the request signal REQ from the SDNcontroller 140, the access management server 130 performs necessaryoperation (e.g. searching a corresponding database) according to therequest signal REQ, generates an access state signal STAT correspondingto the request signal REQ according to the operation state, and respondto the SDN controller 140 with the access state signal STAT (step S212).After receiving the access state signal STAT from the access managementserver 130, the SDN controller 140 determines whether to update thenetwork resource information according to the received access statesignal STAT (step S214). If it is determined that the network resourceinformation need not be updated (e.g. the access state signal STATindicates that the access does not conform to the requirement), stepS216 directs the method to step S218. In step S218, the network signalforwarder is controlled to deny the connection or access request fromthe remote signal source. Otherwise, if it is determined that thenetwork resource information need be updated, step S216 directs themethod to step S252. In step S252, the SDN controller 140 generates newnetwork resource information, and then transmits the new networkresource information to the network signal forwarder (step S254) forstorage and use (e.g. for use in step S202 or step S272). Likewise, thestep of generating the new network resource information in step S252 andthe step of transmitting the network resource information to the networksignal forwarder in step S254 may be performed for only updated portionsof the network resource information rather than generating andtransmitting complete network resource information.

The access signal AS2 outputted from the remote signal source 100(2) istaken for illustration. As described above, the access signal AS2 istransmitted to the network signal forwarder 112 through the networkconnector 1121 (step S200). If the specific information contained in theaccess signal AS2 does not match data in the network resourceinformation stored in the network signal forwarder 112 (for example, theservice type is not recorded in the network resource information), thenetwork signal forwarder 112 determines that the forwarding of theaccess signal AS2 is not permitted (steps S202˜S204). In this situation,the network signal forwarder 112 will generate a first notificationsignal NS1 correspondingly according to the specific informationcontained in the access signal AS2, especially the specific informationwhich does not match data in the network resource information. The firstnotification signal NS1 is transmitted to the network signal forwarder110 through the network connectors 1123 and 1103, and then transmittedto the SDN controller 140 through the network connector 1104 (stepS208). In this embodiment, the first notification signal NS1 includesinformation indicating the receiving device (i.e. network signalforwarder 112 with network connector 1121) for the access signal AS2,information indicating the transmitting device (i.e. the remote signalsource 100(2)) for the access signal AS2, information indicating the IPaddress of the remote signal source 100(2), information indicating theMAC address of the remote signal source 100(2), information indicatingthe service request from the remote signal source 100(2) and otherinformation needed for later determination step. It is to be noted thatthe contents of the first notification signal NS1 are not limited tothis embodiment, and may be adjusted or modified according to differentenvironments without departing from the present disclosure.

After receiving the first notification signal NS1, the SDN controller140 can determine whether the access signal AS2 is permitted to betransmitted to the baseband processing unit pool 120 according to theinformation contained in the first notification signal NS1. For thispurpose, the SDN controller 140 converts part or entire of theinformation contained in the first notification signal NS1 into arequest signal REQ suitable to be transmitted to the access managementserver 130 (step S210). In this embodiment, the request signal REQincludes information indicating the IP address of the remote signalsource 100(2), information indicating the MAC address of the remotesignal source 100(2) and information indicating the service request inthe access signal AS2. It is to be noted that the contents of therequest signal REQ are not limited to this embodiment, and may beadjusted or modified according to different environments withoutdeparting from the present disclosure.

After receiving the request signal REQ, the access management server 130searches a back-end database (not shown) to determine whether the sourceof the access signal AS2 and the service request contained in the accesssignal AS2 conform to the requirement (e.g. depending on whether therequester is a valid registered user, whether the service requestcorresponds to the terminal service provided by the remote signal source100(2), or whether the service request is within the service range ofthe Cloud RAN system 10). If the access management server 130 determinesthat the source of the access signal AS2 and the service request conformto the requirement, the access management server 130 can select onebaseband processing unit in the baseband processing unit pool 120 andtransmit the access signal AS2 to the selected baseband processing unitaccording to the data stored in the back-end database. Otherwise, theaccess management server 130 determines that the source of the accesssignal AS2 or the service request does not conform to the requirement(e.g. the service request is not within the service range of the CloudRAN system 10), the access management server 130 deny the servicerequest contained in the access signal AS2 via an access state signalSTAT (step S212).

The communication and signal transmission between the access managementserver 130 and the back-end database can be performed according to anyknown technology, and redundant description about the operation is notgiven here.

It is to be noted that no matter whether the signal transmissionconforming to the same or different signal specifications, while theaccess management server 130 responding to the SDN controller 140, theaccess state signal STAT permitting the service request contained in theaccess signal AS2 is different from the access state signal STAT denyingthe service request contained in the access signal AS2. To simplify thedescription, the term “access state signal STAT” is used in bothconditions without giving respective signal names.

After receiving the access state signal STAT, the SDN controller 140decides how to control the network signal forwarders 110, 112 accordingto the access state signal STAT (steps S214˜S216). If the access statesignal STAT indicates denial of the service request contained in theaccess signal AS2, the SDN controller 140 does not update the networkresource information, and further transmits a control signal IF tocontrol the network signal forwarder 112 to deny the connection of theremote signal source 110(2) (step S218). Otherwise, if the access statesignal STAT indicates permission of the service request contained in theaccess signal AS2, the SDN controller 140 generates or updates thenetwork resource information according to the access state signal STATand the first notification signal NS1 previously received from thenetwork signal forwarder 112 (step S252). Then, the SDN controller 140outputs a control signal IF to transmit the network resource informationto the network signal forwarder 112, and the network signal forwarder112 stores the received network resource information (step S254). Thus,the network signal forwarder 112 can process the access signal AS2 basedon the updated network resource information as described above (stepS202).

It is to be noted that the network resource information generated by theSDN controller 140 need not be stored only in the network signalforwarder 112 which is designated to receive the access signal AS2. Infact, the network resource information generated by the SDN 140controller can be stored in any network signal forwarder which isdirectly or indirectly controlled by the SDN controller 140.Alternatively, each entry of data in the network resource informationgenerated by the SDN controller 140 is stored into respective networksignal forwarders. For example, the baseband processing unit 1206 isdesignated to process the access signal AS2, and the baseband processingunit 1206 is electrically connected to the network connector 1105 of thenetwork signal forwarder 110, but not the network signal forwarder 112.The data in the network resource information in connection with theaccess signal AS2 may be stored in both network signal forwarders 110,112. Thus, the access signal AS2 can be transmitted from the networksignal forwarder 112 to the baseband processing unit 1206 through thenetwork signal forwarder 110 without repeating the steps of S200˜S254for the network signal forwarder 110.

The above description illustrates the operation about connecting aremote signal source to other devices of the Cloud RAN system 10 afterthe remote signal source is activated. It is to be noted that after theremote signal source is activated, if the state of the remote signalsource changes (e.g. change in IP address due to moving the remotesignal source, or change in service request from the remote signalsource), the Cloud RAN system 10 can automatically and correspondinglyadjust the network resource information according to the operation asdescribed so as to achieve automatic setting the connection in the CloudRAN system 10.

The Cloud RAN system 10 can be automatically set to respond to theactivation or state change of a remote signal source according to thepresent disclosure. Furthermore, the Cloud RAN system 10 can be alsoautomatically set to respond to activation or state change of a basebandprocessing unit according to the present disclosure. Please refer toboth FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. When a baseband processing unit is activated,the baseband processing unit actively transmits a signal containingidentifiable information to a corresponding network signal forwarder(step S270). In the specification, all the signals generated by thebaseband processing units are collectively called baseband processingsignals BSP, including the signals containing the identifiableinformation and the signals generated in response to the access signals.The baseband processing signal BSP may be designed according to anyprotocol as required. Such variation will not affect the concept ofoperation of the present system and method, and further description neednot be given here.

After the network signal forwarder receives the baseband processingsignal BSP, steps S272˜S280 and steps S252˜S254 are performed asdescribed in the above embodiments. The SDN controller 140 generates thenetwork resource information according to the baseband processing signalBSP containing the identifiable information of the baseband processingunit, and then transmits the network resource information to the networksignal forwarder via the control signal IF for storage and later use. Inan embodiment, the identifiable information of the baseband processingunit contained in the baseband processing signal BSP may include atleast one of an IP address and a MAC address corresponding to thespecific baseband processing unit.

Similarly, if the state of the baseband processing unit changes (e.g. anew baseband processing unit appears or the IP address of the basebandprocessing unit changes), the Cloud RAN system 10 can automatically andcorrespondingly adjust the network resource information stored in thenetwork signal forwarder according to the operation as described so asto achieve automatic maintenance of the architecture of the Cloud RANsystem 10.

According to the above-described technology, in response to theactivation of the Cloud RAN system 10, the corresponding relationsbetween the remote signal source(s) and the baseband processing unitpool (or baseband processing unit(s)) is automatically detected, createdand recorded without manual operation. Once there appears a new orchanged remote signal source or baseband processing unit in the CloudRAN system 10, it can be recognized while it is requesting connection.The connection relation or corresponding relation of the new or changeddevice in the Cloud RAN system 10 is automatically established andstored so as to reduce manual operation.

It is to be noted that the signal transmission between the SDNcontroller 140 and the access management server 130 is independent ofthe network signal forwarders 110, 112 controlled by the SDN controller140. In other words, the signal transmitted between the SDN controller140 and the access management server 130 does not pass through anynetwork signal forwarder (e.g. network signal forwarder 110, 112)controlled by the SDN controller 140. By this architecture, the accessmanagement server 130 can be hidden from the remote signal sources100(1)˜100(N) to prevent from network packet attack from the remotesignal sources 100(1)˜100(N) on the access management server 130.

Please refer to both FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchartillustrating a control method wherein the signal transmission betweenthe SDN controller and the access management server is independent ofthe network signal forwarder.

As shown in FIG. 3, after receiving the access signal, the networksignal forwarder determines whether the access signal conforms to apredetermined rule (step S300). In this embodiment, the determination ismade by judging whether the access signal matches data in the networkresource information. If the access signal does not match data in thenetwork resource information, it is determined that the access signalconforms to the predetermined rule. In other words, when the specificinformation contained in the access signal matches data in the networkresource information, the access signal can be transmitted to thebaseband processing unit pool 120 without confirmation from the SDNcontroller 140 and the access management server 130. Hence, thiscondition does not conform to the rule to transmit data to the SDNcontroller 140. Otherwise, if the specific information contained in theaccess signal does not match data in the network resource information,transmission of the access signal to the baseband processing unit pool120 should be upon confirmation from the SDN controller 140 and theaccess management server 130. Hence, this condition conforms to the ruleto transmit data to the SDN controller 140 and the access managementserver 130.

After the determination is made in step S300, step S302 directs themethod to a corresponding step according to the determination result. Ifthe access signal does not conform to the predetermined rule (i.e. noconfirmation of forwarding the access signal is required), the methodgoes to step S310. In step S310, the access signal (the signal from theremote signal source) is forwarded to the corresponding basebandprocessing unit. Otherwise, if the access signal conforms to thepredetermined rule (i.e. confirmation of forwarding the access signal isrequired), the access signal is not immediately forwarded to the accessmanagement server 130. The access signal should be processed in advance.Hence, the network signal forwarder generates a first notificationsignal NS1 according to the access signal, and then transmits the firstnotification signal NS1 to the SDN controller 140 (step S304).Subsequently, the SDN controller 140 generates a request signal REQaccording to the first notification signal NS1, and then transmits therequest signal REQ to the access management server 130 (step S306).Lastly, the access management server 130 responds with an access statesignal STAT, following a reverse path of the request signal REQ, to theSDN controller 140 (step S308). The detailed operation is similar tosteps S202˜S212 in FIG. 2, and is not given here again.

According to the architecture and control method, it significantlyreduces possibility of network packet attack on the access managementserver from remote signal sources. Furthermore, since the steps of thecontrol method are similar to some steps in FIG. 2, it is easy tointegrate the control method with other steps in the above embodimentsto provide control methods with various modifications.

The access state signal STAT may convey values of multiple maximumtransmission rates, at least including a first maximum transmission rateand a second maximum transmission rate wherein the first maximumtransmission rate is lower than the second maximum transmission rate.After the baseband processing unit pool 120 has authenticated one of theremote signal sources 100(1)˜100(N), the baseband processing unit pool120 transmits an authentication notification signal to the accessmanagement server 130 to inform the access management server 130 that aservice is about to start. The network packet flow rate required forauthentication is usually lower than that for network service.Therefore, the access management server 130 informs the SDN controller140 according to the authentication notification signal to make the SDNcontroller 140 to increase the upper limit of the transmission ratebetween the baseband processing unit pool 120 and the authenticatedremote signal source from the first maximum transmission rate to thesecond maximum transmission rate.

Please refer to both FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 for illustration of this controlmethod, wherein FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control methodperformed by the Cloud RAN system. Taking the remote signal source100(2) and the access signal AS2 as an example again, after the SDNcontroller 140 generates the request signal REQ according to the firstnotification signal NS1 and transmits the request signal REQ to theaccess management server 130 (step S210 in FIG. 2 or FIG. 4), the accessmanagement server 130 determines whether the access signal AS2 is validaccording to the request signal REQ (step S400). If the access signalAS2 is invalid, the method goes to step S410. Otherwise, if the accesssignal AS2 is valid, step S402 directs the method to step S404, and theaccess management server 130 transmits the first maximum transmissionrate to the SDN controller 140 via the access state signal STAT. Uponreceiving the access state signal STAT containing the first maximumtransmission rate, while updating the network resource information (stepS214), the SDN controller 140 limits the transmission rate between theremote signal source 100(2) and the baseband processing unit (e.g.baseband processing unit 1206) designated to process the access signalAS2 to be under the first maximum transmission rate.

After transmitting the first maximum transmission rate via the accessstate signal STAT (step S404), the access management server 130 willtransmit second maximum transmission rate to the SDN controller 140 viathe access state signal STAT (step S408) upon receiving theauthentication notification signal (step S406). After receiving theaccess state signal STAT containing the second maximum transmissionrate, the SDN controller 140 increases the upper limit of thetransmission rate between the remote signal source 100(2) and thebaseband processing unit designated to process the access signal AS2from the first maximum transmission rate to the second maximumtransmission rate.

In this embodiment, authentication is performed when the remote signalsource 100(2) is initially connected to the baseband processing unitdesignated to process the access signal AS2. The authenticationestablishes preliminary communication between the remote signal source100(2) and the baseband processing unit, designated to process theaccess signal AS2, to create proper communication mechanism and confirmservice request. Successful authentication represents that thecommunication between the remote signal source 100(2) and the basebandprocessing unit designated to process the access signal AS2 has beenwell established, and execution of the service request from the remotesignal source 100(2) can be started. Thus, after the authentication, thecorresponding baseband processing unit or the baseband processing unitpool 120 can transmit the authentication notification signal to theaccess management server 130 to inform that the authentication has beenfinished successfully and service for the remote signal source starts.

In this embodiment, the limit of the transmission rate can bedynamically adjusted with different maximum transmission rates atdifferent stages. Such adjustment can control and arrange the networkbandwidth much effectively. Furthermore, the signal transmission betweenthe access management server 130 and the baseband processing unit pool120 is independent of the network signal forwarders 110, 112. In otherwords, the signal transmitted between the access management server 130and the baseband processing unit pool 120 does not pass through anynetwork signal forwarder 110, 112. By this architecture, the accessmanagement server 130 can be hidden from the remote signal sources100(1)˜100(N) to prevent from network packet attack on the accessmanagement server 130 from the remote signal sources 100(1)˜100(N).

With the description of the above embodiments, the system architectureand control method of a Cloud RAN system are provided to reduce manualoperation and achieve automatic connection between designated devices inthe Cloud RAN system.

While the disclosure has been described in terms of what is presentlyconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is tobe understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosedembodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cloud radio access network system, comprising:a plurality of remote signal sources, each of which is configured totransmit an access signal; a baseband processing unit pool for providinga baseband processing signal; an access management server for providingan access state signal; and a software defined network controller,electrically connected to the access management server and at least onenetwork signal forwarder, the remote signal sources and the basebandprocessing unit pool being electrically connected to the at least onenetwork signal forwarder; wherein a plurality of different maximumtransmission rates are transmitted via the access state signal, themaximum transmission rates comprising at least a first maximumtransmission rate and a second maximum transmission rate, the firstmaximum transmission rate being lower than the second maximumtransmission rate, wherein when the baseband processing unit pool hasauthenticated one of the remote signal sources, the baseband processingunit pool transmits an authentication notification signal to the accessmanagement server; and the access management server informs the softwaredefined network controller according to the authentication notificationsignal to make the software defined network controller to increase anupper limit of a signal transmission rate between the basebandprocessing unit pool and the authenticated remote signal source from thefirst maximum transmission rate to the second maximum transmission rate.2. The cloud radio access network system according to claim 1, whereinsignal transmission between the baseband processing unit pool and theaccess management server is independent of the at least one networksignal forwarder.
 3. The cloud radio access network system according toclaim 1, wherein the software defined network controller controls the atleast one network signal forwarder, the at least one network signalforwarder having at least two network connectors, each of which isconfigured to be connected to one of the baseband processing unit pooland the remote signal sources, wherein the software defined networkcontroller obtains connection relation between the at least two networkconnectors and the remote signal sources or the baseband processing unitpool, and generates and transmits network resource information to the atleast one network signal forwarder according to the obtained connectionrelation, the at least one network signal forwarder establishingcommunication between the one remote signal source and the basebandprocessing unit pool according to the network resource information. 4.The cloud radio access network system according to claim 1, wherein whenthe access signal transmitted from the one remote signal source to theat least one network signal forwarder does not match data in the networkresource information, the at least one network signal forwardergenerates a first notification signal according to the access signal andtransmits the first notification signal to the software defined networkcontroller, and the software defined network controller converts thefirst notification signal into a request signal and transmits therequest signal to the access management server.
 5. The cloud radioaccess network system according to claim 4, wherein after the softwaredefined network controller receives the access state signal generatedaccording to the request signal from the access management server, thesoftware defined network controller determines whether to update thenetwork resource information according to the access state signal. 6.The cloud radio access network system according to claim 1, wherein whenthe baseband processing signal transmitted from the baseband processingunit pool to the at least one network signal forwarder does not matchdata in network resource information, the at least one network signalforwarder generates a second notification signal according to thebaseband processing signal and transmits the second notification signalto the software defined network controller, and the software definednetwork controller updates the network resource information according tothe second notification signal.
 7. The cloud radio access network systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the cloud radio access network systemcomprises at least two network signal forwarders, and a first networkconnector of a first network signal forwarder is electrically connectedto a second network connector of a second network signal forwarder. 8.The cloud radio access network system according to claim 1, wherein thebaseband processing unit pool comprises a plurality of basebandprocessing units, each of which has an Internet Protocol address, thenetwork resource information comprising the Internet Protocol addresscorresponding to each of the baseband processing units, a media accesscontrol address corresponding to each of the baseband processing units,a serial number of the at least one network signal forwardercorresponding to each of the baseband processing units and a serialnumber of a network connector corresponding to each of the basebandprocessing units.
 9. A control method of a cloud radio access networksystem comprising a plurality of remote signal sources, a basebandprocessing unit pool, an access management server, a software definednetwork controller and at least one network signal forwarder, the atleast one network signal forwarder being electrically connected to theremote signal sources, the baseband processing unit pool and thesoftware defined network controller, the access management server beingelectrically connected to the software defined network controller, thecontrol method comprising steps of: the access management servertransmitting an access state signal to the software defined networkcontroller wherein the access state signal contains a plurality ofdifferent maximum transmission rates comprising at least a first maximumtransmission rate and a second maximum transmission rate, the firstmaximum transmission rate being lower than the second maximumtransmission rate; the baseband processing unit pool performingauthentication of one of the remote signal sources at the first maximumtransmission rate; after the baseband processing unit pool authenticatesthe one remote signal source, the baseband processing unit pooltransmitting an authentication notification signal to the accessmanagement server; and the access management server informing thesoftware defined network controller according to the authenticationnotification signal to make the software defined network controller toincrease an upper limit of a signal transmission rate between thebaseband processing unit pool and the authenticated remote signal sourcefrom the first maximum transmission rate to the second maximumtransmission rate.
 10. The control method according to claim 9,comprising steps of: the at least one network signal forwarder receivingan access signal from the one remote signal source; the at least onenetwork signal forwarder determining whether the access signal matchesdata in network resource information; when the access signal does notmatch the data in the network resource information, the control methodfurther comprising steps of: the at least one network signal forwardertransmitting the access signal to the software defined networkcontroller; the software defined network controller converting theaccess signal into a request signal and transmitting the request signalto the access management server; the access management servertransmitting the access state signal to the software defined networkcontroller according to the request signal; and the software definednetwork controller determining whether to update the network resourceinformation stored in the at least one network signal forwarderaccording to the access state signal; and when the access signal matchesdata in the network resource information, the control method furthercomprising a step of: the at least one network signal forwarderestablishing communication between the baseband processing unit pool andthe one remote signal source which transmits the access signal accordingto the network resource information.
 11. The control method according toclaim 9, wherein signal transmission between the software definednetwork controller and the access management server is independent ofthe at least one network signal forwarder.